Since the advent of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the realm of comic book adaptations has never been bigger. Of course, comic books have been the basis for plenty of productions long before the MCU arrived, especially when it comes to the small screen.

While there are more than a few television and streaming shows based on comics today, they have been providing the foundation for various animated series for the better part of a century. Of course, not every animated series adapted from comics is as recognizable as the likes of Superman or Astro Boy, especially when it comes to those whose small screen counterparts eclipsed the original source material in terms of popularity.

10 Big Hero 6 Could Have Been Part of the MCU

In 2014, Disney's Big Hero 6 premiered in theaters to critical and audience acclaim alike. Between the film's family-friendly tone and instantly iconic characters, it was no surprise that a Big Hero 6 television series was greenlit almost immediately after the film's success. For more than fifty episodes across three seasons, Big Hero 6: The Series gave fans further opportunities to follow along with their favorite characters as they adventured across the futuristic landscape of San Fransokyo, which was just one reason neither it nor the film ever crossed paths with the MCU.

Unbeknownst to many fans, both the Hiro Takachiho and Baymax of Disney's Big Hero 6 are barely recognizable versions of the same characters who debuted all the way back in 1998's Sunfire and Big Hero 6 #1 (by Scott Lobdell, Gus Vazquez, Bud LaRosa, and Leeann Denham). The series followed former member of the X-Men Shiro Yoshida, better known as Sunfire, as he led Japan's very own government-sanctioned team of superheroes. In the comics, Baymax is a much more imposing figure, capable of taking on classic Marvel villains such as Whiplash with ease. Unfortunately, Baymax and the rest of Big Hero 6 have only made a handful of appearances in the pages of Marvel Comics since their introduction, which only compounds the relative obscurity of the original version of the team.

9 W.I.T.C.H. was a Massive Hit Overseas

Produced by The Walt Disney Company and French studio SIP Animation, 2004's W.I.T.C.H. starred a quintet of young heroes bequeathed with task of carrying on their predecessors' duties as the Guardians of the Veil. These legendary mages fought valiantly to protect their world of Meridian from those who would do it harm, leaving behind a massive legacy for the series' teen protagonists to carry on.

Throughout its 52-episode run across two seasons, W.I.T.C.H. amassed a dedicated fan base, many of whom only discovered the more than 150 comics that served as source material after falling in love with the show. Created by Elisabetta Gnone, Alessandro Barbucci, and Barbara Canepa, the original W.I.T.C.H. comics have sold millions of copies since their release in 2001, with over six million of those taking place within the comics' first year of publication alone. Though the series ended in 2012, 2023 saw the release of a new graphic novel, W.I.T.C.H. - Il cuore dell'amicizia, which completely rebooted the entire series for a new generation of potential fans.

8 DuckTales has One of the Longest Comic Book Histories of Any Animated Series

DuckTales is by far one of the most recognizable animated series of all time, not to mention one of the most critically acclaimed across its original run, with the 1987 series having earned a place for itself in the Online Film & Television Association Hall of Fame only two years after being rebooted in 2017. Besides the two DuckTales series, the wider franchise also encompasses numerous video games, one feature film, and countless pieces of merchandise, not to mention the classic comics that every subsequent release have always been rooted in.

As a whole, the world of DuckTales was adapted from Carl Barks' Scrooge McDuck comics first published in 1947. Beyond the character of Scrooge McDuck, Barks created the entirety of Duckburg and its most prominent denizens, which eventually became the wider Donald Duck Universe, or Duckverse for short. While Barks didn't created Donald Duck himself, he was the first writer and artist tasked with producing the original Donald Duck comics, and as such, was able to craft what stands as almost eight decades of characters and concepts that are now an indelible part of pop culture unto themselves.

7 The Snorks Were Comic Book Icons Before They Hit the Small Screen

When the Snorks first arrived on television in 1984, audiences were quick to point out the similarities between the sea-dwelling amphibians and the then more popular and longer-lived Smurfs. That being said, the Snorks were still a hit on their own, with the original series run lasting four seasons comprised of over 100 individual segments. This was a far cry from the run made by their smiling, blue contemporaries, yet it was also far more than their creator expected from them.

When the Snorks first appeared in print in 1982, they did so after half a decade of design and discussion surrounding their place in the world of comics. It was in 1977 when Belgian artist Freddy Monnickendam acquired the rights to The Smurfs, though a lengthy and ongoing argument over a new series' tone led to those rights being divided between Monnickendam, fellow Belgian artist and The Smurfs creator Peyo, and Hanna-Barbera. As a result, Monnickendam decided to seek out a franchise that could directly compete with The Smurfs, eventually landing on Nic Broca's self-published 1982 comic, The Snorks.

6 The Smurfs' Big Break Wasn't on TV

At this point, The Smurfs are a main fixture in pop culture, yet they were never bigger than they were in the 1980s during the height of their long-running Hanna-Barbera animated series. From 1981 through 1989, Hanna-Barbera's The Smurfs ran for 258 episodes, cementing its eponymous cast of characters as fan-favorites for audiences that almost assuredly missed out on their comic book beginnings. When The Smurfs were introduced as Les Schtroumpfs in the pages of 1958's Spirou magazine, their exploits were set against the Medieval backdrop of Peyo's then ongoing Johan et Pirlouit comic series.

Less than a year later, The Smurfs' success spun out into their own self-titled spinoff stories. Soon enough, The Smurfs were their own pint-sized media empire replete with merchandising and animated adaptations. The first of the current three small screen adaptations based on The Smurfs hit the airwaves in 1961 in the form of a 13-minute short, eight more of which would be produced over the next six years. This might be barely notable compared to the original comics, which cover sixteen volumes published from 1963 to 1992, though the first The Smurfs shorts still laid a solid foundation for later adaptations' greater success.

5 Bucky O'Hare Flew Under the Radar as a Comic and a Saturday Morning Cartoon

Despite only lasting a single 13-episode season at the tail end of 1991, Bucky O'Hare and the Toad Wars! holds a special place in the hearts of fans lucky enough to grow up with the series. That being said, the vast majority of audiences who actually caught the series during its initial run were too young to have any clue that the story started in print, whereas fans of the comics had largely aged out of Saturday Morning Cartoons in the 1990s.

Created by Larry Hama, best known for his work on Marvel Comics' G.I. Joe series, the adventures of Bucky O'Hare and his crew of fellow S.P.A.C.E. agents kicked off in the pages of 1984's Echo of Futurepast #1, an anthology series published by Continuity Comics. When the animated series debuted nearly a decade later, the original Bucky O'Hare comics were republished as a standalone series for the first time. Unfortunately, this six-issue run, which included entirely new panels and formatting, was cut short at just five issues, which certainly didn't help its small screen counterpart's uncertain footing.

4 The Big Guy and Rusty was Perfect for an Animated Adaptation

In 1999, Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot made its debut on Fox Kids as part of the network's Saturday morning lineup. Despite its endearing cast of characters and decidedly subversive premise, the series was canceled after only six entries into the 26-episode run that had been produced. Although the series and its remaining episodes were eventually aired, the time between runs and the latter being moved to a weekday time slot made for an awkward reintroduction to one of Frank Miller's most underrated titles.

Written by Miller and illustrated by Geof Darrow, Dark Horse Comics' Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot was released as a two-issue miniseries in the summer of 1995. Though the towering Big Guy had previously appeared in two issues of Madman Comics by Mike Allred, Rusty's debut introduced a new dynamic with a story revolving around the relationship between the two vastly different monster-fighting heroes. Though both the comics and animated series have developed a minor cult-following, their continued popularity has only been enough to garner them cameo appearances in more recent works by Miller himself.

3 Speed Racer Won Over Fans Long Before He was Winning Races in the Anime